Creamy Tomato Soup + Cauliflower Crust Grilled Cheese

August 17, 2015

Eating soup in the summer is an act of defiance — especially during a heatwave.
I’m not talking about eating cold soups such as gazpacho or vichyssoise. I’ve never been a fan of gazpacho. It makes me wish I had tortilla chips while at the same wondering why I am eating salsa with a spoon.
I’m talking about hot soups what warm you from the inside out. Soups you crave when the wind is howling outside, snow is falling, and all you want to do is curl up on the couch with a blanket and a warming bowl of homemade soup.
But when outside it’s 95º and humid, with not even a hint of breeze, and clouds of mosquitoes hum looking for breakfast, eating hot soup means disobedience.
That’s the kind of rebel I am.

To me rebelling is more than just standing out from the pack. It’s about establishing my identity and making others notice me.
I, for one, am sick of following the herd and feeling ordinary.
It’s not like I need to prove myself to anyone, or that I force myself to be a rebel because it’s cool. I’m a rebel because I enjoy defying things and because I don’t want to live inside the lines.
And forget about tattoos, piercing, drugs, or getting wasted at 10am. Eating hot soup during the summer: that’s a revolutionary act.
Ha!

All kidding aside, there’s something very back-to-school-ish about tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. I know it’s still August, but around me everyone seems to be talking about back to school — and with “everyone” I mean radio, TV, newspapers.
I remember how excited I was to go back to school each year. I can’t say it was the yearning to learn that fueled my excitement. It was the chance to see all of my friends every day.

Going back to school meant a whole bunch of ‘stuff’. Including tomato soup.
It’s funny, you know, when I talk about the “classic homey foods,” the “best childhood memory meals,” tomato soup comes immediately to mind.
This is my granny’s old fashioned tomato soup recipe. I streamlined it to make it work for me — using canned roasted tomato instead of fresh ones, and cutting on the fat — still delicious.
I paired it with my cauliflower crust grilled cheese, and it was an epic meal.
I don’t use the word ‘epic’ lightly, but this meal really was epic. And revolutionary too.

In a medium pot (or Dutch oven) melt the butter over medium heat.
Add onion and cook, stirring every so often, until softened and golden, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper. Add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat onion.
Add canned tomatoes, vegetable broth, thyme, bay leaf, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer.
Cook for about 35 to 40 minutes, until slightly reduced and flavors have blended.
Remove from the heat, remove bay leaf and thyme sprig, and stir in heavy cream.
Let cool slightly and working in batches purée the soup until smooth. Blend on low, being sure to let steam escape. Blending hot soup is a little dangerous so be careful! When you're done blending it all, transfer it back to the soup pot.
Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender to purée the soup. Again, be careful.
Make the cauliflower crust grilled cheese, cut in half and serve alongside hot soup for dipping.

26
comments:

I'm like you with wanting hot foods in the summer and cold ones in the winter, lol. Definitely must be a rebel thing. :-) This looks like a great tomato soup recipe, something I've been hunting for!...and I definitely need to try cauliflower grilled cheese soon!

Mike, if this is your idea of being a rebel- I'm totally on board! Especially because you have a cause --> delicious and healthy Nom Noms for the belly! Love that you color outside the lines and LOVE this pairing! Cauliflower crusted grilled cheese? YESSS! Creamy tomato soup? Heck YES! Early august eats? Why the heck not?!? Gimme gimme!! I am not planning on going back to school, but I will stay home and school my belly with this deliciousness! All day, every day, and twice on Sundays! #StellarStudentOfFood :D. Cheers, buddy!

It's obvious your frame of mind is still in Berlin. I love Berlin so much and appreciated the thoroughness of your post. But, this carefree defiance and the actual way you build up to it is even better. Great recipe; it'll be in my week. Thanks!

Look at you breaking all of the rules, Mike! That's why you are Alpha. You set the standard for Wolfpackers everywhere. Hah! But seriously though, I'm loving the tomato soup in the summer. We actually just polished off some soup for lunches last week. It might be hot as Hades out there, but there's something about a delicious homemade soup. Of course, I might appreciate that same soup more when the leaves are falling...but that won't stop me from enjoying it now too. Well done, my friend! #WolfpackRulebreaker

Ohmegawsh - we actually agree on a food item - I feel the same way about gazpacho - every time it's been served at a friends place I end up chasing down the tortilla chips or nachos! And heck yeah to hot soup in summer - I've been indulging in some curried pumpkin/cauli soup myself!

Yumyumyum! Love this comfort food! I get a lot of summer colds (ugh it's the worst) and this looks PERFECT for snuggling up and relaxing with. Love the cauli crusted grilled cheese (yay low carb!) and it's total dunkability in the soup. Pinning!

Mike, you are my new hero! Creamy tomato soup and "grilled" cheese is our absolute favorite comfort food meal, even our little Skipperkee dog loves soup! Now I wont feel guilty about feeding my family this amazing combo! Besides, guilt is not good for our people. Thank you so much.

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